The Fisherman's Daughter
by Chroma
Summary: Set in an AU. Tsukushi lives in a small fishing village of Kana right at the borderline of two countries. Life is simple, albeit somewhat frustrating with a silly family. Her uncomplicated life is disrupted when she saves a certain man from drowning.
1. Fishing

Chapter One – Fishing

A piercing "cock-a-doodle-doo" rang outside the Makino house, Tsukushi had no choice but to wake up. It was the start of another long morning on the fishing boat. Yesterday's catch was scarce at best. "We'll do better tomorrow, papa," Tsukushi had told her dejected father.

As Tsukushi sat up from the bed she shared with her little brother, the rooster crowed yet again. "Susumu," she shook her brother, "come on get up." He replied with a muffled grunt. "Susumu," Tsukushi warned. Still he gave no reply. With that she forcefully ripped the covers from off of him to expose him to the frigid morning. "Tsukushi! It's cold!"

"I mean it Susumu, get up. We have a lot to make up today."

"Ok, ok…"

Mornings at the Makino house were trivial enough. Tsukushi and her mother were usually the first ones to wake at dawn. In turn they would forcefully wake Tsukushi's father and brother. A light breakfast of cheese, bread, and tea would be taken in sleepily, and the four family members would gather fishing gear to sail out in their small faded boat.

"I feel it, this morning is going to be it. We'll have enough to sell and extra for ourselves!" Tsukushi's father declared enthusiastically. He was a small man with no real accomplishments or skills (even his fishing ability was pretty lousy), but he never stayed dispirited for too long, even after a disappointing day.

The sun was beginning to rise as the Makino's little vessel settled far away enough from the shore. "All right, mama," Tsukushi's father held out his hand towards his wife, "give me the net. This is the spot." He stood confident and stared gravely at a patch in the water. Tsukushi helped her father with the net. "Ok, papa, you ready?" He nodded without taking his eyes of the prospective spot.

Tsukushi gathered one side of the weights on the large net ready to throw, her father held the other. Susumu held onto the rope securing the net from being lost as their mother made sure to keep the boat steady.

"On three," Tsukushi counted off, "one, two, three!" Simultaneously both father and daughter threw in their sides of the net. It was a rare occasion for her father to be so focused and in sync. "Papa! We did..." "AHHH!" Her father yelled as a section of the net had tangled itself on his leg causing him to lose his balance.

"Papa, no! The boat!" His wife screeched. Tsukushi's father grabbed onto the small boat as the heavy net dragged him down.

Splash!

The little vessel capsized, flipping the Makino's into the frosty morning water.

"Why couldn't I have married a farmer?!" Tsukushi's mother spluttered as she held onto the overturned craft. Susumu swam down to release the net's hold on his father's foot. Tsukushi treaded the water wordlessly. It was definitely going to be a long morning.

----------

There was nothing Tsukasa hated most but riding on a road for hours. He had been sitting in his carriage for at least five hours, enduring bump after bump to get to the next town before sunset.

It would be the 24th town he was to visit, marking the two-thirds point of his great royal expedition. Already being three months away from his hometown, the capital city of Gen, he was ready to speed through the remaining towns with minimal amounts of processions and dignitary mingling. Tsukasa had thought this required trip would actually be a relief from the monotony of his court, but found the yes-men of each of the towns even more annoying. Duke after duke, earl after earl, he found the court life of the rest of the kingdom just as uninteresting.

"Nishida! Is there not a closer town?! This is getting tiresome!" Tsukasa yelled from his coach. Nishida was the prince's private secretary and responsible for arranging the expedition Tsukasa was on. For generations, The Domyouji royal family had always sent the crowned prince on a tour of the entire kingdom of Kyoryu. This included all 37 cities and towns that fell within its borders. This grand tour not only provided the next ruling monarch to view his entire kingdom, but also created excitement in each area, as each city or town prepared itself for their prince's arrival. This meant celebrations, month long events, and overall joviality.

Currently, Tsukasa and his royal company were on the outskirts of Kyoryu. They were to hit one last town at the very north of the kingdom before they were to turn around and head south through the last remaining towns on the way back to Gen.

"Your majesty, we will be nearing Haraju soon." Nishida wanted to add, "you winy brat." A stream of giggles coming from off the road cut Tsukasa's reply short.

"Did you hear that?"

"My liege, it is probably some children."

"If there are children that means there's a town nearby. Stop the horses."

"But your majesty, it is not one of our destinations."

"How could it not be? Am I not supposed to visit _every_ town?"

Without waiting for an answer or a full stop, Tsukasa jumped out of his coach, all too happy to finally stretch out his cramped legs. "Your majesty!" Nishida felt a headache forming. Nothing had been easy since he was appointed over the prince.

Ignoring his secretary, Tsukasa walked back in the direction of the children. Peering into the shrubbery he sought out the owners of those voices. Two of his four knights walked beside him in caution. Tsukasa glanced at them has he walked into the grassy area and said, "Will you guys relaxed it just a couple of ki…" Suddenly a rope latched itself to Tsukasa's foot and a rough tug brought him down. His large frame made a thud on the ground and his two knights quickly drew their swords in an effort to cut the rope.

"Your majesty stay still, we shall loose you!" One knight assured. But as he was about to swing his blade Tsukasa was unexpectedly dragged deeper into the woodland. "Watch it you idiot! You'll hit me!" Tsukasa exclaimed, but there was no time for further conversation as he was swept away from the road and the two knights entirely. "Your majesty!" They whistled to alert Nishida and the other knights as they chased their speeding prince

"WHAT THE HELL?! STOP THIS AT ONCE!" Tsukasa yelled in futile as he was dragged along the wood's uneven ground. His clothes were shredding up and his skin was getting marked with scratches from the shrubbery he was hitting. Finally he was dragged to the center of a small open plain in the forest. Seconds later his knights came in tow. "Your majesty, are you all right" One of the soldiers huffed.

"WHAT THE HELL DOES IT LOOK LIKE?! Hurry up and cut the rope!" Tsukasa boomed. A knight swung his sword quickly and chopped the rope off, but as Tsukasa was getting up, huge nets from the trees came down and blanketed the knights and the battered prince below.

"You better have a good reason for trespassing on our land." A boy about ten emerged from behind a tree with his arms crossed and a smug expression. He wore only loose pants and his thin frame was marked with different bands of colors. Other little boys with similar characteristics appeared, surrounding the four confused adults (one knight stayed with Nishida) with wooden bows sprung and ready to fire.

"Kid, you don't know who you're messing with." Tsukasa said in a deceptively calm voice. The little boy smirked. "Guys, round them up. We have some intruders to deal with."

_I hate introductory chapters. I'd much rather get on to the good stuff._


	2. Challenges

Chapter Two – The Challenges

Ryunosuke stood rigid with his head bowed low, covering the now smeared bands of color that had decorated his face. Smeared from the smacking his mother had given him after she found out what he and his friends had done.

"Now, Ryunosuke, apologize to these men!" He was brought to attention at his mother's bark. Hesitant at first, Ryunosuke slowly moved from where he was, and walked silently to the group of men in front of him. "Sorry." He murmured with his head still bowed. Unsatisfied his mother told him, "You look them in the face and apologize correctly!" Ryunosuke looked up to find four looming figures. Three of them who were dressed similarly gave him an amused look. The fourth one, who's clothing was tattered as a result of being tied to a galloping horse was glaring ominously. His thick curly hair still had bits of forestry stuck in it and his face was smudged with dirt and some blood. His once expensive garb became rags and he had lost one of his shoes through the whole fiasco. Ryunosuke could not help finding the humor in his appearance. Here was a tall respectable-looking man in shambles. "Sorry." Ryunosuke said firmly, then looked at Tsukasa, "Especially to you mister. Sorry you lost your shoe, too." Ryunosuke took one look at his one shoeless foot and could not help but snicker. "You think this is funny, brat?!" Tsukasa growled and took a step forward as though he was about to attack the boy. Fortunately for Ryunosuke, his parents intervened, pushing him aside and went on their knees to beg for forgiveness. "Please, our son is very foolish. He will be put straight." Ryunosuke's mother added, "It is getting late, though we do not have much, we would be honored if you could stay with us." "Mother, but…" Ryunosuke tried to object, but his father cut him off, "You're in enough trouble, keep your mouth shut!"

Tsukasa contemplated the offer for a few seconds. Stay in a filthy town like this? "Nishida," he called, "how far are we from the next destination?"

"Well, I was looking over our map and it seems we have gone on the wrong road…"

"WHAT?!"

"I apologize, this is also my first time in this area and…"

"How long, Nishida?" Tsukasa's patience was reaching breaking point. Being dragged through the forest and having that happen in the wrong place to begin with had such an effect.

"About 8 hours, my lord."

Tsukasa was about to pop a vein. Where the hell were they anyway? Tsukasa looked at the family who were waiting expectantly for an answer. "We will take your offer."

-----

The Makino's trudged home at dusk, spending a whole day trying to make up for yesterday and this morning. They had gotten a few buckets full, enough to eat for the evening, but since they had finished so late, the fish they caught today was worth much less the next. It would have been much better to sell it the same day. Yet again, they would just make enough to survive.

Susumu fell on his bed once he entered the house. "Whew, I am wiped." "Susumu! Get off the bed, you're all fishy, go wash up first!" She had enough of fish for one day. Her mother started up a fire at their oven and was prepping dinner when there was a rapping at their door.

Tsukushi's mother opened the door to a very frantic Mrs. Hayama. She was out of breath as she grabbed Mrs. Makino's arms to plead, "Please…huff…huff, food…" Mrs. Makino, arched her brow in terrible confusion. The Hayama family was their closest neighbors, but their economic statuses were very different. The Hayama's had a huge fishing boat that had the most advanced equipment for catching fish. They even made enough money had to hire a few servants. Why on earth was Mrs. Hayama asking for something to eat? "Well you can join us for dinner, but we don't have that much and it might not be too good," Mrs. Makino offered politely, although she was a little annoyed that she had to oblige a woman with so much more than her. "No, not for me," Mrs. Hayama amended when she caught her breath. "I have some unexpected guests. Six of them and I haven't enough food to feed them all. Fumi usually goes food shopping tomorrow for the week, so we don't have too much tonight."

"Six guests?! We can't give you that much, we won't have enough to sell tomorrow."

"Please, we really need it. You will be compensated tomorrow, I promise."

"Compensated?" Mrs. Makino's eyes began to sparkle at the prospect of an income.

"Yes, yes. You can go on our boat tomorrow with our crew and keep whatever you catch. The equipment is yours to use."

Mrs. Makino didn't have to think about it at all. "That would be great!" She then turned around and called out to her family, "Bring everything we caught here!" Confused and too tired to even concentrate on what was going on, the rest of the Makino's brought out the few buckets of fish they had spent an entire day catching.

"What's going on Mama?" Mr. Makino finally asked when he caught sight of their neighbor. Ignoring him, his wife turned to Mrs. Hayama, "Here take it. Is it enough?"

"Yes that's perfect," replied Mrs. Hayama as two of her household servants came to take away the prized buckets of fish.

On seeing someone else taking away an entire day's worth of labor Tsukushi snapped out her daze. "Wait a second! Why the hell are you giving away our fish?! Do you have…mmrph." Mrs. Makino quickly slapped her hand onto Tsukushi's mouth to silence her. Addressing Mrs. Hayama with sweet smile, she said, "I hope your guest enjoy. We will see you tomorrow then?" Mrs. Hayama nodded and thanked the family before she hurried back to her house to help prepare the meal for her six guests.

Finally, Mrs. Makino let go of her daughter. Her steaming mad daughter. "MAMA, that took us so long to catch! Why did…" "Because she needed it for her unexpected guests," her mother interjected as she walked to the cupboards to find something, anything, to prepare dinner with. "But ALL our fish?! Just what are we going to eat tonight?"

Mrs. Makino ruffled around and found an old bag off something. "Don't complain. Suffer today for the gain of tomorrow." Feeling as though his anticipated hearty meal after a long day was completely lost, Mr. Makino asked dejectedly, "Mama, what _are w_e going to eat?" Mrs. Makino held up the bag she found, "Seaweed."

-----

Tsukasa and Ryunosuke sat glaring at each other the entire time the meal was being prepared. Around them the knights chattered lightly with Ryunosuke's father. Nishida sat in the corner looking upon his ledger. He was calculating their expenses and trying to figure out their next move. Tsukasa had said little else after agreeing to stay. He had changed into another equally expensive garb that looked entirely out of place in the Hayama's homely and worn house. The kitchen rattled noisily as it hastened to produce a feast.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what is it you all are here for. I don't think I remember the last time we received visitors who weren't from Casca." Mr. Hayama told them. Casca was the closest neighboring town and merchants would sometimes visit to buy local craftwork and jewelry to sell as trinkets in large markets. The fishing town of Kana, did not have much else to export than that. Casca itself was a large cosmopolitan fishing and port town that belonged to the country of Aizhou and thus had no other needs from Kana, a quaint border town who didn't quite belong to either Aizhou or Kyoryu, other than its charming knickknacks.

"Oh, well, you see…" One of the knights started, but wasn't sure what to say. How were they going to tell him their son had just dragged the future king of Kyoryu through the woods? "We were heading for Haraju on business, but ended up here." Tsukasa replied curtly. He wasn't in the mood for incessant apologies and groveling tonight, which would be the result if they knew who their guest was. All he wanted was a meal and bed.

"Ah…" Mr. Hayama simply said. Tsukasa was visibly in a bad mood as his whole face was tense and his mouth was pressed hard into an angry frown. His dark eyes seem to just darken with unhappiness. Despite not knowing he had royalty in his house, Mr. Hayama knew Tsukasa was wealthy and had some sort of prominence, so he tried not to pry any further.

Being a mischievous boy who was extremely bored, Ryunosuke decided to rile up the one person who did not have in any way an inclination for conversation at the moment. "How come you don't have a sword?" Tsukasa didn't reply, but just continued to glare at the little runt. "You know if you had a sword like the rest of your friends you could have gotten out of the fishing nets yourself." Ryunosuke continued, paying no attention to Tsukasa's dangerous look. Mr. Hayama, getting nervous, sharply whispered Ryunosuke's name. The boy was really asking for it. Ryunosuke, however couldn't pass up angering a stuck up guy. "Maybe it's because you don't know how to fight. That's why you have four other guys to do it for you," Ryunosuke continued. "I mean how pathetic is it for a guy to be captured by a bunch of kids?" At this point Tsukasa had had enough and with a quick movement grabbed the boy by his shirt. He said in a dangerously low tone, "I think you're done talking, runt." The room went still as the dark vibes coming out of Tsukasa was enough to silence everyone. Ryunosuke being the young and clueless boy he was, although a bit frightened of Tsukasa's action at first, shook it off and realized how much more fun he could have. "Yes, I'm done mister. Sorry." Tsukasa let go of the boy and returned to brooding on his own. "How about we have a friendly competition tomorrow to prove whether you're really a man or not." Tsukasa's eyes darted murderously at the boy. Mrs. Hayama was nervous and embarrassed of how her son was treating their guest. She tried to patch up the situation. "Ryu! Our guest does not have to prove–"

Tsukasa cut in, glaring at Ryunosuke, "You name it. I'll annihilate you." Tsukasa could not put down a challenge. After all he was very much still a kid himself.

Ryunosuke answered inching closer to him leveling with his glare, "Early tomorrow morning. Whoever catches the most fish will prove he is the better man."

"Fishing?" Tsukasa replied confused.

**Sorry for the shortness of my chapters. It'll pick up, I promise.**


	3. Overboard

Yeah, it takes me forever to update. Forgive me. Writing is harder than I thought. You really have to be in the mood for it.

I deleted an intro chapter before explaining the world of this AU, but I thought it was unnecessary. In short it's not any real time period or location, just its own world. The names are all the original names, but it doesn't mean it takes place in Japan or that the people are Japanese. They are just who they are. If that makes any sense. Also I use the whole family name first etiquette.

Lastly, I've changed the rating. I don't know if I'm going to make it a little more racy, but I've upped it a notch just in case.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 3 – Overboard 

At the crack of dawn the Makino's hurriedly prepared for another day out at sea. Today was definitely going to be different. After all, they had the Hayama's boat and equipment to use. Mr. Makino breathed in the morning air and puffed out his chest. Yes, today was going to be a good day.

The Makino's were on the Hayama's boat even before the owners had arrived. They helped the crew aboard set up nets and check to see that all was secure. As Tsukushi tightened a knot on one of the sails, she started feeling good about the day as well. She was actually excited to be able to work on such a large and expensive boat. After finishing the knot she sighed in accomplishment.

"That's an excellent knot there Ms. Makino." Mr. Hayama complimented as he stepped onto the deck.

"Thanks. And thank you for letting us use your boat. We really appreciate it."

"Oh it's no problem. Least we could do for stealing your food last night."

Tsukushi smiled uncomfortably. _Don't remind me_. "Tsukushiii!" A little boy crashed into her with a hug. She laughed and kneeled down to his level to speak to him. "Ryunosuke. Look at how much you've grown! You're becoming such a handsome man. I hope you're staying out of trouble." She ruffled his hair. "Becoming? I'm already a man!" He replied, standing tall with his hands on his sides. "Where's Susumu?" Tsukushi pointed him out and Ryunosuke went to greet his friend.

The amiable chatting among the neighbors and the business of setting up the fishing boat to set sail zoned out the entrance of a very sleep deprived and crabby (due to the sleep deprivation), curly-haired man. He had hardly slept in all in the small guest room with the stiff creaky bed. To wake before dawn (after getting no sleep) for a ridiculous challenge issued by a ten-year-old boy, added to his misery. Worse yet, he was entirely ignored by the dozen or so people on the ship. This kind of treatment was entirely foreign to him and Tsukasa kept in mind all the reasons why he would make it a pursuit to destroy the small town once he returned home after his tour. Finally Mr. Hayama noticed him and turned everyone's attention to Tsukasa. "This is our guest, who's doing business around this area. Mr…uh…" Amazingly no one had bothered to ask for his name. Perhaps it was because it looked as though anyone who spoke another word to him last night would have had his arms ripped off. "I'm sorry, sir, your name?" Another first for Tsukasa; being asked for his name. "Dou…" Wait, he thought. He didn't want anyone knowing he got stuck in some ridiculous backwater town. Especially on such an important trip as the Royal Expedition. Whose name could he use? He could only think of one person who would never end up on this side of the country. In fact he would never leave his house if he had his way. "Hanazawa Rui." He said effortlessly. "A fine name. Everyone this is Mr. Hanazawa. He will be joining us this morning" Mr. Hayama proceeded to introduce him to those aboard the ship. Tsukushi, meanwhile, was on the other side of the boat, getting netting lessons from one of the experienced fisherman. It was not until the ship had started sailing and Mrs. Makino's insistent whispering, that she realized that there was a guest on the ship. "Tsukushi why don't you go meet him! Look at how handsome he is. And the clothing he's wearing, he must be very wealthy!" Mrs. Makino pushed her to a spot where they could spy on him. Tsukushi noted that he did have an appealing face. He had deep-set eyes and a very symmetrical face. On that symmetry was a very proportioned nose, a full expressive lower lip, a strong jaw line, all topped off with tanned yet flawless skin. But his ostentatious curly hairstyle and his dapper clothing looked silly on a fishing boat. He wore a silver threaded vest, for goodness sake. Though he forsook the jacket and the "suffocating neck thing" as Tsukasa called it. Despite being exhausted, he stood tall and stiff with perfect posture as he watched the waves. Presentation is everything, his mother had told him. Never let them see you weak, she had added.

Why had he agreed to a stupid, childish challenge as this? He should be speeding up his tour and returning home. Returning home to what, he thought. Duty and tedium? He watched as the fishing town became smaller and smaller in the distance. He suddenly realized that he had never been to sea before. The capitol of Koryu was surrounded by land with only a few rivers and a few lakes sprinkled here and there. There was little occasion to sail on a boat.

"So all you can do is stand there huh? Figures." Ryunosuke, who had finished his usual duties decided to go for some entertainment. Tsukasa surprisingly getting accustomed to the little boy's comments just ignored him and continued looking out at the calming waves. He didn't want to admit it, but with the weather being so nice, this whole sailing thing was somewhat therapeutic.

"So Mr. Hanazawa, what exactly do you do?" Ryunosuke asked. Tsukasa was surprisingly getting accustomed to ignoring him as well. "I bet you don't do anything. You've probably never earned anything in your life. My dad says you're not a real man until you've suffered some." The young boy chuckled a bit to add to the insult. "I guess you're not a real man, just some useless wimp." Tsukasa twitched. No one called Doumyouji Tsukasa, the future king of Kyoryu, whose size took up a fourth of the world, a wimp! Tsukasa whipped around and grabbed the boy's shirt, pulling him close so the boy could hear and understand what he was about to say. He spoke low, almost growling.

"Brat, I would advise you to watch your tongue. I can take this whole dawn town and make it disappear over night with no on realizing it. Then make sure to make you, your family, and all your friends suffer for the rest of your lives. We'll see how much of a _man_ you are afterwards. You have no idea who you're dealing with. I'm Dou—"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" A girls voice rang out. Both Tsukasa and Ryunosuke looked up, stunned. Tsukushi took the opportunity to rush and grab Ryunosuke out of Tsukasa's grasp and usher the boy behind her. She stepped up to him with a solid stance and squared shoulders. She cocked her head up as she spoke to him. "Who do you think you are to handle a boy like that? What kind of man are you to pick on a boy half your size and age?" Tsukasa looked stunned, confused, and then angry in a span of a few seconds. How dare this wench talk to him like this? What was wrong with this town was every youth this disrespectful? He was definitely going to destroy this place. "Listen you little—"

Before Tsukasa could even start his rant, the foot of one of the sails came full swing into their direction. Ryunosuke was quick enough to duck, but the two staring daggers at each other were hit clear over the boat and splashed into the water.

"Tsukushi!"

"Mr. Hanazawa!"

Most of the people on board rushed to the edge, while the rest went to fix the sail that Mr. Makino had been fiddling with. They would make sure to keep an eye on him from now on.

"I'm fine!" Tsukushi yelled out while she treaded water. She was annoyed. Ending up in the water (yet again) was not what she planned. Today was supposed to be a good day. She began swimming towards the boat to grab onto the rescue ladder they had rolled down, but a gurgling "help!" stopped her and cause her to look back. "Tsukushi, Mr. Hanazawa!" Mrs. Makino yelled. It didn't occur to Tsukushi that the Hayama's guest could not swim. He bobbed up a few times while splashing furiously before he went under. "Crap!" Tsukushi whispered and dove in to get him before the oaf drowned.

Tsukushi swam as well as she walked and practically torpedo towards Tsukasa. By now Tsukasa swallowed enough water to become unconscious and was dropping like a stone. She managed to get her arm around him and began swimming to the surface. Two of the crewman had jumped in to help her. Among the three of them, they managed to carry the rather large man back onto the deck. Once they laid him on the floor, Tsukushi began pumping his chest. Resuscitating someone came natural to her since this wasn't the first time. Her father gave her plenty of practice.

"Tsukushi, he's still not breathing!" Mrs. Makino pointed out.

Tsukushi knew what she had to do, but was a bit reluctant. Why didn't this guy know how to swim?! She tilted his head up and pinched his nose. She took a breath of air and placed her mouth on his, puffing two full breaths into him. She then began pumping his chest again. Right when she was about to repeat the process, Tsukasa coughed up some water and began breathing again.

He slowly opened his eyes; it felt like the whole ocean had surged through him and knocked him out. When his vision cleared he saw a girl who was drenched looking at him with expectant eyes. She sighed and then gave a small smile and he thought she was very beautiful with her hair clinging to face and her clothes sticking to her body.

"Mr. Hanazawa! Can you walk?" Mr. Hayama asked him as he hoisted him up to a sitting position and draped a blanket over him. Tsukasa almost didn't register why he was calling Rui, but then remembered that was the name he was using. He felt a dizzy and sick, but he got up with the help of Tsukushi and Mr. Hayama. He had his arm around the wet girl as they walked to the lower deck. Tskushi deposited him onto a bench against the wall as Mr. Hayama looked for some spare clothing. Mrs. Hayama and Mrs. Makino began cooking up something warm to eat.

Mr. Hayama handed the two some dry clothing. "You're very luck that Tsukushi swims so well, Mr.Hanazawa." Tsukasa looked at the commoners clothing her had been given. So she had saved him. He thought as much. "Sorry Miss Makino, but you'll have to wear Rynosuke's clothing. There doesn't seem to be any spare women's clothing on board." Tsukushi looked at Mr. Hayama gratefully. "It's all right. Thank you." She was just glad she could be dry.

Tsukasa was given the changing area to change first. When he stepped out he didn't look too happy. The clothes were too small for him. The long sleeve shirt cut off between his elbow and wrist and the pants came up to his calves. No one paid him any mind to laugh at him because the men were all busy on deck fishing, while the women were preparing lunch. Tsukasa sat down at the small wooden dining table feeling a bit perplexed. He should be extremely angry that he nearly died in this unnamed town, but instead he was calm and exhausted. Tsukushi stepped out after putting on Ryunosuke's spare clothing. Tsukasa turned around when he heard her shuffling and blushed.

She had a pair of boy's pants on that came up to her knee. The shirt she wore was short sleeved and form fitting, showing of her bare arms and body shape. Her hair was tousled and still damp. She looked very wild. Very...cute. In his circle of society, he never saw a woman drenched like Tsukushi had been and he certainly never saw them dressed in male's garments. It would be scandalous.

Tsukushi spotted him looking at her oddly and glared at him back. It was embarrassing enough that she had to do mouth to mouth resuscitation on him and now she was dressed in boy's clothing. "Tsukushi, come sit down. Food's is almost ready." Mrs. Makino told her. She sat down to the furthest adjacent chair from Tsukasa, so she didn't have to look at him. Mrs. Hayama went up on deck to inform them the meal was ready. Mrs. Makino found this opportunity to scheme. A rich son-in-law would be a dream come true. "Here's some tea. I'm going to help Mrs. Hayama up on the deck. We'll be a few minutes." With that Mrs. Makino winked at her daughter and scurried upstairs. Tsukushi looked at her mother like she had three heads.

They sat there in silence for a few seconds. Sipping their tea.

"How long until we return?" Tsukasa spoke up feeling like he had to say something.

"Not for a few more hours."

"What?! Why are we not returning now?"

"Why should we return now? We're already three hours out. This is the ideal spot to catch some large fish."

"They're still going to fish?! I almost drowned!"

Tsukushi looked at him the same way she looked at her mother just moments before. He was unbelievable. Why should they waste a whole day worth of fishing just because he didn't know how to swim? "But you're fine now! There's no need to go back before finishing what we came here for."

Tsukasa was not used to not getting his way. "I command you all to turn this ship around!"

"You command me?! Who do you think you are?"

"I'm Dou—"

"No, I don't care. To me you're just some pathetic guy who picks on kids and doesn't know how to swim !"

"Who are you calling pathetic, you ugly hag!"

"You...you octopus head! You should've seen yourself spluttering and crying for help!"

"You son of a—"

"We're coming down now!" Mrs. Makino's voice sang out. She was certain that those two would be in each other's arms by now. After all Tsukushi had saved his life and he was very handsome. However that scene would just be a fantasy because instead, the two of them stood nose to nose about to kill each other. "Oh my, I hope we're not interrupting anything." Mrs. Makino said purposefully.

Tsukushi and Tsukasa jumped apart when they realized how close they were and turned their backs at each other obvious to everyone that they did not enjoy each other's company. For the rest of the day they didn't look or talk to each other. Ryunosuke was surprisingly civil to Tsukasa and even taught him how to fish. Even his juvenile mind knew that almost drowning wasn't a pleasant experience. Of course it didn't stop him from gloating when he caught more than Tsukasa.

It was midday when they returned. Tsukasa and Tsukushi had changed back into their prior clothes since they had dried. Tsukasa would've worn them wet if it prevented anyone else from seeing him in commoner's clothing. As soon as Nishida saw him, he told him of the good news. "My lord, I've inquired throughout town and found a map of this area. Comparing it to our own, it seems we're no that far from Haraju. If we leave now, we can make it their by sunset the latest."

Tsukasa didn't reply. It seemed as though he had ignored him. Nishida didn't understand, shouldn't the prince be rushing to his carriage? However the young prince had other things on his mind. His pride was hurt when that impertinent girl saved him. How could he leave it where it seemed like she was the stronger one? No one should be better than him in anything. Especially an obscure plain commoner like her. "Nishida, go to the next town without me. I have something to deal with here." He sounded serious, too serious.

"But my lord—"

"Do as I say." He cut off his secretary bluntly.

Without waiting for any reply from Nishida, he strode over to where Tsukushi and her family were dividing the fish.

"Girl," he called out. She looked up and scowled at him.

"I _have_ a name! It's Makino Tsukushi."

"Makino," he amended, "you are to teach me how to swim."

* * *

**When will the next update be? Who knows, but stay tuned!**


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